, 1887-01-22
A PROFESSIONAL scAPEGoAT."
a Description of tho Duties OF His Po
~sition-Paid for Being Soolded.

= Description OF tho Duties OF HIS fo-
s~ition-Paid for Being sooided.
professional s~capegoat' Ices not APP
pear among the thousands Of occupations
which designate the manner OF employ
ment of the inhabitants of this city as
classified in the Philadelphia directory.
More than one man whose name appears
there graced by the simple but comprc-
hensive word clerk is, if the truth
Were known, fully entitled to classitica-
ton as IA professional s%capegoat. There
ia more han one who is paid a substan-
tial salary by large houses for 10 other
occupation thar taking upon his should
ers the blame for all the misdeeds of the
establishment and suffering the supposed
loss of his situation at the rate of ten or
a dozen times IL day, or as much oftener
as occasion may require. Being dis
charged half "a dozen times "a day without
once losing his position, and at the same
tune being well paid for the peculiar per
Torrance. il, indeed. u novel idea. This
IL how it IL done:
\ lady makes u purchase of several ar
ticlcs. all Of which are to be sent to her
address, as given, before a certain hour.
without fail. The following day the Gus
toner returns M III her own sweet way
proceeds to tear nut" the floor manager
or proprietor. as it may be, because the
goods failed to arrive at the promised
hour The story is patiently heard, and
the word is passed along for Smith.
Smith makes his appearance with u coun-
tenancc professionally penitent and sub
missive.
Smith, the manage begins. you
were instructed to send this lady's goods
to the address given you beforc4 oclock?"
Yes, sir" is Smiths plaintive reply,
''but"-
Never mind an explanation. | I'M
derstand. Your neglect caused the de-
lay and has risked the loss of one of our
best customers. We can not put up with
your carlessness any longer. You may
go to the office and get your pay" Smith
steals away with u readymade crestfallen
look upon his face.
Madam, | regret the occurrence OF
such an unnecessary blunder, but assure
you it will not happen again; surely not
from hat man, " and madam takes her
departure fully satisfied that she has had
her revcnge,
Another irate customer appears on the
scene. This time the trouble Is with a
suit of furniture which had been pur-
chased n week before as i'll perfect order,
but has already begun to show signs of
approaching dissolution. The aggrieved
purchaser opens on the manager, who at
once sends for the imam who takes the
blame and opens the usual programme.
How is this, SIR What do you mean
by sending out goods in such a condition.
You have been repeatedly told not to per
NIT any goods to leave your department
unless in perfect order. This is not tho
first time this has happened; hut it will
be the last. Go to the office and get your
pay; we have no further use for your
services.
Madam, l am very sorry that you
should have been 30 deceived by one of
our statesmen. We can not very well
take back the furniture after it has been
used, but we will send a man to your
house to put it in proper shape, and the
lady goes her way satisfied that she has
received justice.
The man who takes the blame" il
next discharged for o%vercharging in max
ing n sale of silk dress goods. He then
suffers a TRADE OF abuse, and is also to go
because he has sold n set of fine china
without calling the attention of the pur-
chaser to several little defects. And SO it
goes from morning to night, day after
day, week in and week out. The poor
fellow is made to suffer for all the sins OF
the entire establishment. from the mana
ger down to the errand boy.
Does it payf' echoed II prominent
business mar the other day in response to
an inquiry on the subject. '.Well, |
should say it did. Why, we have "a man
,t.I, tntr.r tI,. lI.,,. fn. n,r srtnll,.l,
ment who is worth thousands of dollars
many slightly damaged or imperfect
goods which we could not otherwise dis
pose of except at a great sacrifice. Then
We save IA great many good customers
who become displeased about small mat
tiers which are not done just as they like.
1t Is IL strange but true fact that many
people are satisfied to put up with con-
siderable Inconvenience if they can only
b. rcvenged by seeing some one dis
charged. Sometimes when we bring out
our man who takes the blame the GUS
toner ventures to suggest that he is not
the one who waited on her, but we insist
that he is. and the man adds his own as
%sertion. and In nine cases out of ten the
customer is convinced. Very few people
take enough notice of a salesman to
identify him. unless they meet him fire.
quently. have known some establish
ments that have employed two or more
men to take blame in order to facilitate
matters. The funniest part of the thing
is that our scapegoat man grows fat ON
being 'cussed.' He has increased from
100 to 300 pounds in fifteen months, and
smiles SO much that we will have to
change him and get some dyspeptic look
ing individual in his place. "-Philadel-
phia Record.